‘Hey!’ I said and untangled myself from my friend, got up and went towards him. ‘I didn’t expect you back tonight!’
I put my arms around him and he very unsubtly stepped straight back out of my hold. ‘Clearly,’ he said, glaring at Howie. ‘Don’t let me interrupt you. I’ll go back to my place. Call me in a few days if you’ve got a moment or two for me.’
Howie understood. More than most he understood. He got up, grabbed his jacket from the back of the sofa. ‘Vee, thanks for the takeaway and chat. I’m going to bounce.’
‘You don’t have to,’ I said.
‘Yeah, I do,’ he replied.
‘Yeah, he does,’ Logan interjected.
I swung towards him. ‘Excuse me?’ I said to him.
‘It’s late, his girlfriend will be worried, won’t she? I mean, doesn’t she mind him cosying up to another man’s woman?’
‘I’m nobody’s anything, Logan. And Howie’s welcome to stay as long as he likes.’ I turned to my friend to find him facing down my boyfriend. ‘As long as you like.’
‘I’m gonna bounce,’ Howie stated again, still focused on Logan.
Maybe it would be better if he left. The testosterone levels in the room would drop by about a couple of million and I could give Logan Carlisle a piece of my mind without an audience.
Howie kissed my cheek, gave me a bear hug and then began to leave the room. I couldn’t work out what happened, who started it, who got in whose way, but suddenly they were pushing and shoving, squaring up and jostling each other. My mind went blank, my body rigid. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, what they were doing. Any second it was going to break out into a full-on fist fight.
‘STOP IT!’ I screamed at them. ‘JUST STOP IT!’ My voice was loud enough to get them to listen, to force them to stop, but it was also at the level that would disturb the neighbours, possibly get them to contact the police.
Howie came to his senses first, probably because he’d been arrested six times now, a seventh arrest would be catastrophic for so many reasons. ‘Sorry, Vee,’ he said, stepped around Logan and practically ran out of the room and then out of my flat.
I was trembling. Shaken by what had happened, terrified that what Howie was talking about would come to pass, possibly because of a fairly innocent incident like the one I’d just witnessed.
‘I’m sorry,’ Logan said once we were alone and we heard the downstairs door click shut.
‘Yeah, sorry’s not good enough. You don’t get to come to my flat and start a fight, Logan! What were you thinking?’
‘I wasn’t thinking. I just saw his hands on you and I saw red. I don’t like the thought of other men touching you.’
‘Oh, give it a rest. Just go home.’
‘I’ve just got here. I travelled home tonight instead of tomorrow so I could see you.’
‘Well . . . you should have thought of that before you got all up into being Mr Jealous, shouldn’t you?’
‘Ver—’
‘Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.’
Looking mortified but without another word, Logan turned on his heels and left.
Minutes later, a text message flashed up on my phone:
He’s bad news, Vee. Really bad news.
I deleted the message and dropped my phone onto the sofa beside me. All things considered, I thought that was a bit rich coming from Howie, but I wouldn’t ever say that.
serena
Now
‘What have I done now?’ Con asks the moment we ask him to come into the kitchen and sit down with us at the table.
I’ve been lucky, I know that. Until now, my children have been dreams. I used to often wonder what I did to get this fortunate. They didn’t go off the rails too much, and whenever Con wanted to do something he knew we wouldn’t tolerate, he’d pitch up at Verity’s and make her his accomplice. I minded that he did that stuff, but preferred he was doing it around someone who would stop things getting out of hand. His group of friends are a mix of bad boys and angelic boys that Verity has lovingly named the ‘Brain’s Trust’ because while they are all really intelligent, when they’re together they seem to share one brain and do the most ridiculous/stupid things. Again, I’ve never minded because until recently I knew someone – Verity – was watching over them.
‘What do you think you’ve done?’ Evan asks his son. I don’t know why he’s trying it on, Con could run rings around us both by the time he was twelve. He knew how to use his big eyes, cute looks and sweet charm to get exactly what he wanted whenever he wanted by the time he turned eight. And my husband is trying this on now?
‘That’s for me to know and you to bring up in its entirety in your case against me,’ Con replies.
I shoot Evan a dirty look. This is a serious conversation, I don’t want to start it by being silly because I don’t want to have to try to convince our son what we’re saying is true.
‘Can we just talk about what we called you in here to talk about, please?’ I say to my son but mean it for my husband.
Evan glances at me and I give him a ‘come on!’ look. Mollified he returns his attention to Con. Evan has his doctor’s face on again because he’s back where we were when we made the decision to tell him sooner rather than later. To explain why Verity is now sitting in a prison cell. Why the police will probably be taking us all in for questioning.
‘This is about me and Verity,’ I say to Conrad. ‘And why she’s been arrested and held in custody.’
‘Is this about you being accused of murder when you were a teenager and almost going to prison? And that other girl, well, I suppose she’s a woman now, going to prison for the crime? Ahhh, sick, she was a Carlisle. Is that guy related to her?’
‘What?’ I say to my son, my eyes wide with shock.
‘What?’ my husband says to our son, his face set with alarm.
We stare at each other, confused, then turn to Conrad, ultra-confused. ‘What?’ we both say at the same time.
Conrad looks back at us like we’re the ones who are a bit on the odd side.
‘You know about that?’ I say cautiously.
‘Yeah, course.’
‘How?’
‘I searched you up. I’ve searched up everyone in this family, especially you two. I’ve got to know who I’m dealing with.’
‘What do you mean, you’ve got to know who you’re dealing with? We’re your parents.’
‘Yeah, and?’ he replies earnestly because he can’t see what we’re surprised about.
‘You searched us up? I mean, you did searches on us?’
‘Mum, Dad, it is on you if you’re not curious about the people you’re around. Me? I’ve gotta know what you people are all about.’
‘And it doesn’t bother you?’
Conrad shrugs, pulls a face. ‘Why would it?’ He puts his hands up, then reaches forward and gently places his hand on mine for a moment in what feels like a comforting and slightly patronising gesture. ‘I mean, Mum, that must have been some difficult . . . stuff to deal with. But it doesn’t bother me at all. What you did is what you did.’ He takes his hand away, robbing me of the calmness his touch gave me. ‘And they found you innocent, set you free.’ He shrugs again. ‘All in the past as far as I’m concerned. And doesn’t stop you being the excellent mother you are.’